‘Absolutely no value’ in studying Constitution, federal judge says

Seventh Circuit Judge Richard Posner stated Friday that he sees “no value” in studying the U.S. Constitution.

Posner, a senior lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School, alleges in an op-ed for Slate that there is “absolutely no value to a judge of spending decades, years, months, weeks, days, hours, minutes, or seconds studying the Constitution, the history of its enactment, its amendments, and its implementation” because he believes the founding document is no longer relevant to contemporary society.

“Eighteenth-century guys, however smart, could not foresee the culture, technology, etc., of the 21st century,” Posner argues, adding, “the original Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the post–Civil War amendments (including the 14th), do not speak to today.”

Posner is also critical of the Supreme Court, condemning law professors he worries are “too respectful of the Supreme Court,” and criticizing the “absurd” posthumous adulation given the late Justice Antonin Scalia.

Judge Posner’s son, Eric Posner, a professor at the University of Chicago, faced criticism early last year when he claimed that universities have the right to limit the free speech and behavior of their students, and that college students need to be treated like children instead of adults.

Neither Judge Posner nor the University of Chicago Law School had responded to requests for comment from Campus Reform in time for publication.

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